Falling traffic light forces mum-to-be to run into road

A PREGNANT woman ran into the path of a car to avoid a damaged traffic light that tumbled down just inches from her.

Beth Birch, of Churchfields, phoned her mum Trish in tears, saying that she almost lost her daughter and unborn granddaughter after narrowly avoiding being crushed.

The 25-year-old was on her way back from the Coop, in Parkgate Lane, after picking up a copy of the Guardian and a loaf of bread, when the traffic light collapsed in Mobberley Road at about 1.20pm last Wednesday.

She said: “As I was crossing the road, the light came down. It must have landed three inches from me.

“I had to run backwards in a split second to get out of the way. I was nearly knocked over by a 4 x 4. It terrified me.”

Beth suffers from the heart problem acute coronary syndrome and had gastric bypass surgery five years ago, which has complicated her pregnancy.

She told the Guardian that the stress from the incident caused her to be physically sick and she has continued to agonise over what could have happened.

Beth refuses to use the crossing now and worries about the safety of other pedestrians.

“I was so shaken up I didn’t know what to do,” added Beth, who is 23 weeks pregnant.

“I keep thinking: ‘What if?’ I phoned my brother Andy and said I’d nearly been crushed by a traffic light. I was in tears.

“I told my mum she nearly lost her daughter and granddaughter. Next time it could be a kid or a car could be crushed.”

Clr David Topping, Cheshire East cabinet member for environment, said: “Firstly, I would like to offer my most sincere apologies for any distress caused to the lady who was nearly struck by this damaged traffic light.

“It appears as though very strong winds caused the pole to bend at the base and topple over.

“I would like to reassure the lady involved, and other residents of Cheshire East, that we are urgently looking into what happened to ensure this does not happen again.”

Comments

jmyerscough
7:30pm Wed 6 Feb 13

Unfortunate for the mum-to-be. But question if the 4x4 driver was paying attention to the road as he/she should not have been doing over 30mph and if this lady could see the light was about to collapse why did the driver nearly crash into her. Secondly no street furniture and signage will ever be 100% against the British weather or sudden failure.

Unfortunate for the mum-to-be. But question if the 4x4 driver was paying attention to the road as he/she should not have been doing over 30mph and if this lady could see the light was about to collapse why did the driver nearly crash into her. Secondly no street furniture and signage will ever be 100% against the British weather or sudden failure.jmyerscough

Unfortunate for the mum-to-be. But question if the 4x4 driver was paying attention to the road as he/she should not have been doing over 30mph and if this lady could see the light was about to collapse why did the driver nearly crash into her. Secondly no street furniture and signage will ever be 100% against the British weather or sudden failure.

Score: 0

whitevanman
12:02am Thu 7 Feb 13

Story doesn't make sense, if she was crossing on green the traffic would be stopped or stopping and unlikely to run her over. How does the previous commentator know the speed of the 4x4, it's not mentioned? Sounds like someone is building up for a compensation claim.

Story doesn't make sense, if she was crossing on green the traffic would be stopped or stopping and unlikely to run her over. How does the previous commentator know the speed of the 4x4, it's not mentioned? Sounds like someone is building up for a compensation claim.whitevanman

Story doesn't make sense, if she was crossing on green the traffic would be stopped or stopping and unlikely to run her over. How does the previous commentator know the speed of the 4x4, it's not mentioned? Sounds like someone is building up for a compensation claim.

Score: 0

turtle2
9:35am Mon 11 Feb 13

On the same day this happened they were replacing the traffic lights at the Middle Walk junction with the new LED lights. Had the council replaced the Parkgate lights first the incident would have been avoided.

I'm not sure why the council reinstated the old lights at Parkgate following the incident and not installed new LED lights as they have said they will be doing. They didn't even put the old one back up straight!

Most of the traffic lights in Knutsford have been in poor condition for a while, just like the roads.

On the same day this happened they were replacing the traffic lights at the Middle Walk junction with the new LED lights. Had the council replaced the Parkgate lights first the incident would have been avoided.
I'm not sure why the council reinstated the old lights at Parkgate following the incident and not installed new LED lights as they have said they will be doing. They didn't even put the old one back up straight!
Most of the traffic lights in Knutsford have been in poor condition for a while, just like the roads.turtle2

On the same day this happened they were replacing the traffic lights at the Middle Walk junction with the new LED lights. Had the council replaced the Parkgate lights first the incident would have been avoided.

I'm not sure why the council reinstated the old lights at Parkgate following the incident and not installed new LED lights as they have said they will be doing. They didn't even put the old one back up straight!

Most of the traffic lights in Knutsford have been in poor condition for a while, just like the roads.

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